Today, the Philadelphia Inquirer printed an op-ed letter I sent, but I'm kind of bummed out about it--they hacked it to pieces. This is what I originally sent:
Subject: We The People
Mr. Mark Batchelor, in his Op-Ed letter appearing in Thursday's Inquirer, stated that:
"The Inquirer, nearly every major newspaper and TV news operation in the country, Michael Moore and Hollywood, Europe and every country in the world vs. George Bush and We the People of the United States - and we (a 51 percent majority) still had the intelligence to make up our own minds and won."
I have news for Mr. Batchelor: The people at The Inquirer, along with the people at all the other major newspapers and TV news operations in the country, along with Hollywood and, yes, even along with Michael Moore, are also We The People. And just because the above mentioned parties (myself included) opposed Bush and his administration and sought to remove him from office, that does not make us any less part of We The People. We are all Americans and the same canopy of Democracy covers us all. We the People is not a personal victory shroud with which George Bush and his supporters can wrap themselves. We The People encompasses all of us who voted on Tuesday, no matter who we voted for or who we voted against.
Here's what appeared in paper this morning:
'We' includes us all
Re: "A very sweet victory for We the People," letter, Nov. 4:
The writer said that The Inquirer, "nearly every major newspaper and TV news operation in the country, Michael Moore and Hollywood, Europe and every country in the world" opposed George Bush and "We the People of the United States," yet "we (a 51 percent majority) still had the intelligence to make up our own minds and won."
Well, the named opponents of Bush's reelection (myself included) are also We the People. We are all Americans, and the same canopy of democracy covers us all. "We the People" is not a personal victory shroud with which President Bush and his supporters can wrap themselves.
What a butcher job! I was going to write to the op-ed editor to complain, but I decided not to. I plan on writing more letters, and I don't want to get on their "cranky old nut" blacklist too soon.